patent search

In article: <3hcg3a$rul at newsbf02.news.aol.com> prinbow at aol.com (Prinbow) writes:
>> i am looking for a way to do patent searches, specifically biotech patent
> searches , on the internet. also, if there are any newsgroups that
> discuss biotech patent and licensing issues i would appreciate a point in
> the right direction
> thanks
>
The US patents for the previous 12 months are available by gopher to the US
patent office on town.hall.org. Normal WAIS searches possible. Diagrams aren't
available but all text is. You can also use WWW but I don't now the URL. I
find that from the UK the link is slow so I tend to search via gopher then pull
any patents from their ftp server (same address), located by number.
You can also gopher to the European patent office (gopher.csc.fi) but I've never
sucessfully searched for anything - just throws up junk. I haven't found
anything for Japan.
Duncan
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My mind's made up. Don't confuse me with the facts!